Mother Nature is a true rock star; it never ceases to inspire and teaches humility

With prominent leaders and chefs accused of sexual harassment, our restaurant industry is confronted with harsh reality of sexism and discrimination. To the chefs who have committed and condoned such wrongful behaviors (to that extent, what were you thinking?), you guys have got it all wrong when you became rock stars; a rock star’s got perspective, a rock star’s got respect for his craft and would do anything to protect it, last but not least, a rock star’s got to inspire the future generation, and you guys have failed in each of the category.

I worked in The Spotted Pig at the very early stage of my career. My culinary path was rather unusual in the beginning; I am a self-taught cook and I was trained in English and Italian cuisine, a somewhat overlooked style of schooling compared to the more popular French haute cuisine training. I consider myself to be fortunate to have worked with Chef April Bloomfield; she held high standard and her work ethic inspired me to work relentlessly; she was one of the rare celebrities who devoted herself to the restaurant entirely even after reaching stardom status. Unfortunately, The Spotted Pig has become a brewing ground for male industry leaders to harass female workers, as was told by several news articles.

Chef April’s apology for wrongful behaviors occurred in her restaurant have received wide range of responses; some accused her lack compassion and insincere in her statement, and some stood by her and showed sympathy for the unwanted attention that came with Ken Friendman’s negligence and abusive behaviors. As I took a hard look at myself in the mirror and reflected on being on the receiving end of scolding and humiliation in the kitchen, I realized that Chef April might have been blindsided and desensitized by the supposed rock star chef culture when she was cooking her way to the top. The culture of rock star chef stemmed from the 80’s when Marco Pierre White, arguably the very first celebrity chef, stormed the culinary scene as the youngest British chef to achieve 3-Michelin Stars. Marco’s style of leadership was often the center of the controversy because he was brutal and ruthless towards his cooks. His abrasive style of leadership was adapted throughout the industry. However, most of the chefs have failed to interpret and reflect on his legacy; Marco Pierre White did not condone sexism. Marco’s militaristic style of coaching was to push to refine dining experiences, and his trailblazing kitchen had no room for amateur bullying culture. Marco paved the way for future chefs to get inspired and work hard, and we have failed as a group to preserve his legacy of a rock star chef.

After working at The Spotted Pig, I got a job at the renown WD~50, where great female leadership further shaped my way of becoming a chef. Great leader shows courage. Great leader is responsible and accountable. Great leader also shows great humility. Great leader is as focused as a rock star to further refine his or her craft. Samantha Henderson, our Chef de Cuisine, was a WD~50 rock star. Sam’s food was an extension of herself, the perfect marriage of wit and grace. With a string of wrongful behaviors brought to the eyes of public, we chefs, as a group, have failed to inspire others as Chef Sam had inspired me. Working towards becoming a chef is no longer frowned upon as it was few decades ago. Number of people working in hospitality soared and businesses flourished because of the rise of mainstream rock star chef culture. However, with the money and fame, chefs often lose sight of what is truly important in becoming a rock star chef – nurturing young talents, pushing to be innovative, and continuously create jobs and opportunities for the next generations. To abuse stardom status and suppress others, rock star chefs have only become a bunch of narcissists and not leaders, and lastly, those rock stars have betrayed mother nature, who has been blindly faithful in giving us the resource to be creative.

From working under female chefs, I have witnessed resilience, compassion, and great intelligence. We should embrace our differences in gender, and to also mutually understand our strengths to support each other. Being a chef is a privilege; we often start our journey because of our love for food, and through the long and winding journey of grind and tear, we often meet incredible people and develop long lasting friendship. We are resilient, compassionate, and smart as a group, or how else could we have justified the time and energy spent on refining our craft. We are also rock stars; we enjoy entertaining our customers. But let’s not forget rock stars need to inspire and have perspective, and most importantly, real rock stars have humility and respect humanity.

I was a bit distracted when I read a heartfelt news article about a bigot who made racist postcards and distributed them around in my hometown, Edison, New Jersey, before the state-wide election this week.

My first reaction was filled with anger and the need for vengeance. However, knowing my own shortcoming as an emotional person, I calmed myself and analyzed the situation, and decided to reflect on racism through the lenses of a chef, and a proud Asian American, made in Edison, New Jersey.

My first encounter with racism was during my first couple years in America. I was often picked on and ridiculed because I didn’t speak any English. Reflecting on those years, I realize that racism is an issue that is often neglected in school or at home. Teaching who Dr. King is and what he stood for is merely a lesson about American history, but not a thorough teaching on how racism shapes people’s behavior and causes of domestic terrorism, which you…can hardly deny. Racism is often taught in the manner of “you against the world, vice versa”. Therefore, violent and abusive behaviors and retaliation have become norm when it comes to race disparity. I am grateful that all the ridicules, stemmed from my lack of English proficiency, were an act of childishness and not hostility; some of the kids who laughed at me had become my friends or acquaintances. However, the thought of lacking adults encouraging kids or each other to embrace cultural differences irks me every so often.

When I wanted to become a chef ten years ago, i thought nothing but to be the fastest at chopping onions and butchering pigs. And boys…was I totally wrong about the full responsibility of being a chef. As I moved up the rank, my cooks looked up to me for advice and creativity, and on many occasions, my cooks and I shared our fond memories of eating a grand meal to slurping a 5-dollar Pho in Chinatown (I miss that kind of camaraderie very much). My creative process often involves reflecting on my experiences of eating ethnic cuisines and reinterpreting the flavors to tailor to my customers’ palate. Needless to say, being open minded and curious have helped me grow as a chef, and most importantly, as a person. I often tell my cooks to travel and eat different varieties of food; accepting the unfamiliar is yet the best way to have a beautiful mind.

In closing paragraph, I thought I’d share couple quotes that could help us reflect on humanity.

“In a very gentle way, you can shake the world” – Mahatma Gandhi

I truly believe to rid of racism (I am not entirely being realistic here), all grown ups are responsible for showing compassion and understanding in the public eye. Only through practice and willingness to adapt will we ever be able to embrace our differences.

“When it comes to love, compassion, and other feelings of the heart, I am rich.” – Muhammad Ali

Wealth is often spoken in terms of monetary possession because money is the main medium in all trades. Not only should we be responsible with our own money, but we also ought to enrich humanity with empathy.

With the above, I can only ask myself to be more patient and understanding of others.

My last love letter was written in 1999, and I don’t remember it to have any perspective or meaningful gestures; the letter was rather a wasteland of cringing words (here’s where you roll your eyes at me). After reading an NPR article on Obama’s love letter to his ex-girlfriend, Alexandra McNear, I was struck by his tenacity to survive living in New York, and his perseverance to pursue his goals when he felt left alone. President Obama’s words reminded me, and hopefully you after you read it, that life should be filled with ups and downs; struggles are omnipresent, and we have the choice to conquer them.

I have been a chef in New York City for over a decade. My struggle with finance often exhaust my mental capacity to be creative and positive. I often wonder if these struggles are self-inflicted or attached to my jobs. For many years, my first two (weekly) paychecks helped me pay my rent, and the next two paychecks were divided among student loans, utilities, NYC Metro Card, gym membership, obligatory dining expenses (chefs don’t cook at home), and cereal and milk (as much home-cooking as it gets). If I could write a love letter to a girlfriend from afar, I’d write,

“one week I have to bring home as many slices of stale bread for the weekend, and the next I have to hope C-town has a massive sales on milk and cereal. But I have saved enough to get a us a bottle of red, or white, when you visit”.

I also have struggled with self-image for many years. My insecurity comes from measuring my own success against others, and my own expectation for myself when I set out to be in restaurant business 10 years ago. Most of my friends have already, if not in the process of, settled down. Their ability to be responsible for another (or multiple) human being often becomes a measurement for my own success. President Obama wrote,

“I must admit large dollops of envy for both groups, my American friends consuming their life in the comfortable mainstream, the foreign friends in the international business world. Caught without a class, a structure, or a tradition to support me, in a sense the choice to take a different path is made for me. The only way to assuage my feelings of isolation are to absorb all the traditions, classes, make them mine, me theirs. Taken separately, they’re unacceptable and untenable”.

If I need to rephrase that for an imaginary girlfriend, I’d write,

“I wish our Sunday breakfast could be us competing for the last cup of coffee and fighting over just whose turn is it to walk the dog (of course I’d lose). Caught without a clear future of the current restaurant, and having to constantly live from paycheck to paycheck, the only way to ease my anxiety is to be as open minded and compassionate, and grateful, as I could possibly be. Without understanding and compassion, my food and career will suffer.”

I have made two trips back to my country, Taiwan, recently. I suddenly found myself lost in a place where I thought was home. I wasn’t caught up on its pop culture, and I had trouble having small-talks since I could hardly finish a sentence in Mandarin without reserving back to English. President Obama wrote,

“ I can’t speak the language well anymore. I’m treated with a mixture of puzzlement, deference and scorn because I’m American, my money and my plane ticket back to the U.S. overriding my blackness. I see old dim roads, rickety homes winding back towards the fields, old routes of mine, routes I no longer have access to.”

Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with the prejudice when I went back to Taiwan. If I really needed to express my loneliness that came with the trip, I’d write,

“ It sucks I didn’t know where to get a well made martini without paying the price of a tourist. I mean…I am a Taiwanese! I just happen to speak some English, and it’s not even remotely good. I met up with couple childhood friends, and I miss them dearly already because I don’t do well when it comes to farewells.”

President Obama’s love letter drew a rare smile out of me. I admire his courage to keep living while almost everything was, or still, working against him. Although President Obama never intended to have his love letters made public (or do you think he was already making a move to the White House at the very young age?), I am glad to have read some beautifully written passages that help me reflect on my mind and maturity. I’d only hope to be fraction as articulate and tenacious as President Obama as I march onward to make Weekday Herbivore viable.

Riding on a train through southern Taiwan, the main source of rice and whole grains.

Grains and rice are principal food for more than half of the population on this planet. Grains and rice have been a source of energy and documented in many traditions for thousands of years. Whole grains and rice are also prized for their multiple health benefit to humans. More importantly, whole grains have great textures if cooked right. I promise to bring you the pleasure of eating and cooking grains if you could follow few simple guidelines.

Wash or rinse your grains and rice: unless you are making porridge or congee, or toasting grains with fat initially, washing your grains gets rid of the excess of starch on the surface to avoid clumping and turning the final product into a mush. Wash grains with cold water until the water becomes clear. Having grains in contact with water also softens the surface and allows better liquid absorption in cooking.

Ratio: the ratio of water to hearty grains, such as barley, wheat berries, or farro, is 4 to 1, in volume (soaking grains overnight could reduce the ratio to as little as 2:1). Brown rice has the ratio of 2.5 to 1, in volume. Long grain white rice has the ratio of 1.75 to 1, in volume. Short grain white rice has the ratio of 1.25 to 1, in volume as well.

Note: these ratios could also vary by few tablespoons of liquid depending on your choice of pot; you’d like to choose a pot where raw grains only takes up one-third of the space of the pot.

Cook them nice and slow: besides proper ratio of liquid to grains, which is discussed above, the single most important cooking technique involved is your patience. You must bring your water to a boil and maintain a steady simmer, and trust the process. If the cooking procedures are rushed, your grains will be undercooked, or overcooked as you try to rectify mistakes by adding more liquid. If you have a rice cooker, the robot will do the work for you. However, I find cooking grains over my stove top to be rather satisfying. Not only have I truly understood how grains absorb the liquid, but I have also noticed the subtleties in texture if I were to change the recipes.

Keep the lid on, for 10 more minutes: steam generated by heat is crucial to the final stage of grain cookery. When liquid is completely absorbed by the grains, steam coming out of each kernel will further cook the grains and help you achieve the right consistency. Rushing to lift the lid and let out the steam often lead to slightly undercooked grains.

Wash or rinse your grains or rice, choose the right pot and ratio, cook the grains or rice nice and slow, and keep the lid on for 10 more minutes at the final stage, you will have a bowl, or many bowls for that matter, of pleasantly cooked grains that are toothsome and delicious. Let’s talk about recipes, shall we?

Instructions:1. Rinse black forbidden rice with cold water until it becomes clear or slightly purple
2. Season the rice with salt, and add water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and turn down to simmer.
3. Wait.
4. Leave the lid on for 10 minutes once water has been fully absorbed (you may lift the lid couple times during the cooking process to check the level of water. Be quick with this step)

Instructions:1. Rinse brown rice with cold water until it becomes clear (water is generally clear when washing brown rice, but do it anyway and trust the process).2. Season the rice with salt, and add water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and turn down to simmer.
3. Wait.
4. Leave the lid on for 10 minutes once water has been fully absorbed (you may lift the lid couple times during the cooking process to check the level of water. Be quick with this step)

Instructions:
1. Rinse farro with cold water until it becomes clear (water is generally clear when rinsing farro, but do it anyway and trust the process).
2. Season the grains with salt, and add water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and turn down to simmer.
3. Wait.
4. Leave the lid on for 10 minutes once water has been fully absorbed (you may lift the lid couple times during the cooking process to check the level of water. Be quick with this step)

Feeling motivated? Bonus Recipe…

Red Quinoa…

and it’s neither a cereal nor a grain! Red Quinoa is a seed, but cooks like grains, and is a relative to spinach, beets, and chard.

Instructions:
1. No need to rinse quinoa with water. Cover red quinoa in a pot with water and season with salt.
2. Bring the pot to a boil and turn down to simmer.
3. Wait.
4. Leave the lid on for 10 minutes once water has been fully absorbed (you may lift the lid couple times during the cooking process to check the level of water. Be quick with this step)

Last but not least, once you have mastered cooking grains, rice, and seeds, you may take the liberty and mix the final products together. Not only will you end up with a bowl of beautifully cooked whole grains, but you will also get to experience the nuance in texture. Good luck!

Proteins are made of a chain of 20 amino acids, and there are nine essential amino acids that we, humans, cannot synthesize; therefore, we must eat food to fulfill those needs.

I am here to tell you that you could absolutely get all your amino acids (note that I didn’t use “proteins” here) from eating plants. I am here to solve the myth of “incomplete proteins” that plants are often mislabeled or misunderstood. “Incomplete Proteins” simply means that the ingredient may be low or lack in one of the nine essential amino acids (eg. lentils are low in methionine, Brazil nuts are low in lysine). In order to obtain all the essential amino acids for our body, we need to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to pool enough amino acids to form proteins. Classic pairing such as beans and rice, corn and beans, and legumes and nuts provide the necessary amino acids intake. As a chef, I love pairings. Pairing food gives me the opportunity to explore flavors and texture; broccoli (my constant obsession) is sweeter if cooked with garlic or chili. Lentil is more savory if paired with walnut. Finally, rice is sweeter if eaten with savory beans.

My walk through a rice paddy field in Taiwan

Here’s a recipe of Italian beans and rice that could get you started on completing-your-proteins from eating through the veggie aisles.

1 large carrots, cut into bite size chunks
1 medium onions, diced to your preference
5 cloves garlic, sliced thin or minced
3 tablespoons of canola/vegetable oil
1 can of great northern white beans or cannellini beans (canned beans has its benefit in its unique texture), or you may soak some beans overnight and cook them fresh the next day
½ cup of edamame (optional)
2 sprigs of thyme leaves
1 teaspoons of salt, or more to adjust seasoning
½ teaspoons of ground black pepper, or more to adjust seasoning
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 cup of your favorite rice, cooked (my choices are a mix of short grain brown rice, jasmine rice, and wild black rice)

Set a pot on medium high heat and add oil, once the oil starts to shimmer, add your carrots, onions, and garlic. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook the onions and garlic until fragrant and soft. Carrots will be stewed and softened in the next step.

Add thyme to the pot and cook until fragrant, and then add enough water to just cover the carrots. Cover the pot, bring it to a boil, and turn the heat to medium low. Simmer the carrots until soft, but not mushy. Bite size carrots will take less than 10 minutes to soften.

Add the can of white beans and leave the pot to simmer for another 2 minutes to thoroughly heat the beans.

Turn off the heat and add edamame. Cover the pot with a lid for 2 more minutes to heat up the edamame with its residual heat.

Serve your Italian beans with your favorite side of rice. Add freshly chopped parsley and mint, and a squeeze of lemon to brighten up the dish, or a pinch of cayenne pepper will wake up your palate and help you enjoy a pint of IPA.

Rustic Italian beans and rice

Last but not least, why eat multiple plants when you could get all the amino acids from a piece of meat? Animal proteins have higher ratios of amino acids that contain sulfur, which is converted to sulfuric acid when digested by humans. In order to balance out the acidic condition, our bodies work harder to keep us alive, alert, and sexually active, as I am told.

Implementing plant-based diet to my personal life was an economical decision that pairs with my curiosity for its benefit to triathlon training. Becoming a plant-based chef is a lifelong resolution in learning how to cook the most misunderstood category of food – plants and vegetables.

Most of the professional kitchen is set up to have vegetable cooks (entremetier) working under the meat/fish cooks, who are usually senior to all the staff. Proteins are more expensive; therefore, only experienced chefs are allowed to cook them. After working in numerous world class kitchens, I start to question the tradition of the chain of command; does a senior cook have to be cooking a piece of meat or fish? Or, can a restaurant succeed if proteins are used as garnishes only?

I remember a cook once told me that vegetables are more forgiving; therefore, vegetable cookery is the training ground to build fundamentals. Very true to the latter part, but to its “more forgiving” nature than animal proteins, I say bullshit…based on my own frustration in keeping vegetables’ integrity and flavors when I put them on flames.

(some very overcooked broccoli)

No bull, green vegetables are incredibly hard to handle. Green vegetables are of their color because of chlorophyll, molecules that absorb sunlight and undergo photosynthetic system to become sugar. When green vegetables are heated, gases trapped between cells expand and escape; therefore, we see chloroplast, the green pigment, more clearly. However, prolonged cooking and acidity are the main culprit to the loss of the green pigment. Green vegetables are susceptible to dull colors from its exposure to acidity during cooking. When green vegetables are heated, their cell membranes around chloroplast are damaged; natural acidity leaks out and replaces magnesium ions with hydrogen, a change that turns colorful green pigment to grayish-green or yellow (stop there…getting too scientific). The moral lesson here is that most of the green vegetables should be cooked quickly and swiftly, but long enough to help pocket of gases collapse inside the cells and make the green color more apparent, and appealing to the diners.

(I like my broccoli blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds…no more, no less, and saute the cooked broccoli on high heat for 30 seconds more with chopped garlic and black pepper – my credential to a great uncle-hood)

To how long should you be cooking green vegetables…somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes, or even less, depending on your preference for their texture, in an appropriate size of pot and a more alkaline condition, with temperature at boiling point (that might just be another conversation).

I have finally picked up Ratio, a cookbook written by Michael Ruhman, and read it from front to end for the first time since I made the purchase nearly 5 years ago (part of my unproductive splurge with my ever mounting credit card bill). The book provides basic ratios for common recipes and demonstrate the convenience of knowing these formulas.

I have always been a conservative cook, meaning that I like the tedium of practicing and learning the fundamental of cooking before I unleash my creative juice and innovate dishes. Ratio was an enjoyable read; I reviewed basic recipes I had often practiced and gained knowledge on food or techniques that I rarely use. Ratio is a great book for either a professional or home cook.

I have been a professional chef for eight years, and I have spent majority of my time learning and perfecting (and never perfecting) stock and sauce production. I am humbled and fascinated by some of the basics taught in “Ratio”. Here are some of the highlights:

Sweat vegetables before adding water enhances the depth of vegetable stock (why have I not ever thought of it…and I do that for all the animal stock!)

Only add aromatics/aromats in the last hour of stock making in order to maximize the yield (aromatics soak up a lot of liquid from prolonged cooking)

The stock should be kept at between 180F~190F (82.2C~87.8C) during the
making process, which is below simmering. Therefore…don’t simmer your
stock. (I am in shock…aren’t we all taught to simmer our stock at one point or another? But what is a simmering temperature…has anyone ever asked that?)

Leeks and its relatives give body to the stock (Something not so noticeable…but worth of exploring. I am guessing the structure comes from the slime in between the layers of leaves)